Grads & Cupcakes

Among the myriad of amazing moments this week was my son's preschool graduation and the discovery of a cupcake shop that will have you swooning! Actually my son had his graduation last week, but my how time flies! We took D2 to Rice University to take his pictures. Then we stopped at the Sam Houston Statue on the way home for a few more. Let's face it folks, we all know any day can be our last, so why not embrace it? Go ahead, laugh. We don't care, it was fun & I am sharing.

This week I hosted the annual Broadway Revue show at work & that will be addressed in the next blog. I only mention it because one of my new & dear friends, Andrea Rivette, was in town to perform in the show so she took me to her favorite cupcake place. How is it that I have grown up in this city & it took a "foreigner" to show it to me? I've gotta get out more! Andrea discovered Crave while in town two years ago for a show she was doing & ever since she has been traveling all over the country & beyond with another show...and testing cupcakes. Houston's Crave Cupcakes shop is still her favorite. After giving it a taste I must agree. They have different flavors each day & some flavors everyday. The red velvet sounded dreamy, but I chose the banana, the coconut/chocolate, the dark chocolate, and one I can't even remember (yes, it was THAT good)! Andrea got the strawberry with real fruit & the amazing lemon, as well as a few others. That lemon was sooooo good! It was actually kinda tart, not sweet like too many cakes get. I was told that the key lime pie is amazing too.

They also sell other stuff, like coffee, cards, tee-shirts, & more. It's all great marketing & I totally bought into it, every bit of it! Why? It made me happy, so why not!

The employees are so quiet & focused in their work that it took me awhile to notice just how many they have working behind the counter. I saw cooks, servers, & others. There must have been 10 or 15 people working! The pretty girls were out front of course ;) Next time you are in Houston you HAVE to check out this great place & eat all you can!

Flowers....for Remembrance

The theme for this week in Focus 52 is flowers. How appropriate. My family buried our patriarch this week. I did the family wreaths & the casket spray.

My father-in-law left on his terms, and no one dared to dispute it. Flowers are an amazing thing. They are pretty, they smell good, they cheer us up when we feel down. They are symbols of friendship, love, and remembrance. Four times a year I go to the cemetery where I put together some type of arrangement for each of my two daughters. Each time we gather to remember their birthdays and passing days Louis would sit and watch me work while he visited with my parents, my husband, & his wife. He always loved watching me work, always having something to say about what I was creating. Having the privilege of doing his memorial flowers, in his college colors of course, was something I had not considered until I was faced with it. Creating something for another person allows me to meditate on that person while I work. I think about the person, I visit in spirit with the person, & I try to honor the person, & this time I cried for what we will all miss. When I think of flowers I think of the play Hamlet & the character Ophelia. When she lost her mind and began wondering around "chanting old tunes" it was the flower that she clung to as she passed out twigs and called them by the names of flowers.

The pure & simple beauty of the flower. I remember telling some of my students many years ago that there IS proof that God exists. Look at the flowers: we know from science that they smell good & look vibrant to attract the pollinating insects, but seriously people, this is God we are talking about. God does not work under the limitations of the physical realm. If he wants the bugs to go to the flowers they will, no special attractions are necessary. God just does it that way so we can understand how it all works. The beauty & the scent is a gift to us from God so we can enjoy nature at work. God gave us flowers to make our world more beautiful & to let us know God DOES exist...and we will all be together again one day.